The Stygian Legacy
by TheOptimisticSpectator
Summary: The Sevens Estate. A once-mighty stead, now reduced to ashes after a terrible attack by red-eyed demons. Now, Avonnius Crestentille, a descendant of this misfortune, must journey to find a new home, meeting adventurers and monsters alike in the ambiguous quest to restore his family name. Yet, what awaits in these unfamiliar, new lands? (Teen-Mature Content)
1. The Discredited Descendant

**Chapter I: The Discredited Descendant**

 _Day 1, Dusk_

"...Utter horseshit."

As I, Avonnius Crestentille, gazed upon the once-prestigious estate that was my father's homestead, now smoldering pitiably, the smoke billowing ever so slowly into the luminescent sky, I briefly contemplated a bout of suicide, partly in a jesting manner, and partly not so.

Really, it was quite amusing to ponder just how swiftly conditions could change for the worse. All it had taken was a single moment of obliviousness by a drowsy watchman to unravel generations of onerous work, both from the lords of the estate, and from the inhabitants that resided in the cottages dotting the land.

Or rather, _dotted_ the land.

The pungent fumes of the smoke was beginning to reach my nostrils, causing me to cough profusely. I had enough of this place.

From below, within the fumes that festered within the hamlet, I could just barely make out the haphazard outlines of menacing figures, surely there to wreak more havoc than was already wrought upon the now-leveled grounds.

 _Is it time for a great escape?_ I deliberated quickly, my fears beginning to run high as I witnessed the silhouettes turn their ghastly, glowing, blood-red eyes in my general direction. With not a further incentive, I fled from the hamlet, turning my sights to the inviting green land yonder.

* * *

 _Day 1, Night_

After only the second hour past sunset did I finally slow my absconding to a crawl, huffing with fatigue.

"This body is surely not ready for such physical ardor." I mumbled to myself in betwixt heavy breaths. After only a few moments, my stamina recovered, if only half of what it was before, and I began viewing my surroundings with a wary caution.

At first glance, the woodland I found myself in seemed rather tame, tranquil even. It gave me no relief, however, to inadvertently notice the dreadful air the forest carried after only a few moments of idling.

 _This is no haven for rest_ , I thought to myself. _I must keep moving_.

And yet, the very prospect of traveling any longer was a loathsome one to my already-weary feet.

 _Hiss_.

I perked up in alarm, my ears perceiving the sound of a lurking terror. Twas not even a moment that passed by when the lone warning was followed by a cacophony of terrifying noises, which erupted from my surroundings, indecipherable yet clear in intent. At sudden, I no longer felt the aching in my legs as my veins coursed with adrenaline befitting that of a terrified hare. Without further hesitation, I bolted, my mind focused purely on eluding the grasp of whatever monsters were lurking in that deceptive facade of greenery.

* * *

There seemed to be no rest for the wicked, or so I had assumed at this point in my time, my legs groaning with the cries of aching bones and flesh, their lower extremities feeling numb. In great pain, I came to a halt, lowering myself slowly to the grass beneath my feet. Yet I was proven to have no more control over my joints as my knees suddenly buckled forward, sending me awkwardly spinning to the ground.

" _Oomph!"_

Tis a fortunate break, however, as though I was surely vulnerable and weak, I had found myself at a dirt road, a crooked wooden sign directly across from me.

 _Greylin Road_

"Finally, civilization…" I mumbled, relieved to have rid myself of the wild landscape from before. As I laid there, my body aching in pain, I casually sweeped my eyes up and down the road. My eyes felt glued to the road leading to my left…something had caught my focus-

"Gah!"

I felt a sudden premonition encapsulate my mind, sending forth hazy images.

 _ **Further down the road-**_

 _ **Bandits, demanding- money?**_

 _ **I speak, hear no words-**_

 _ **A searing burn in my stomach- Stabbed?!**_

 _ **Lying on the ground, dying-**_

 _What is this madness?!_ I thought, utterly disturbed by these pictures.

Then, as abruptly as it had arrived, the revelations disappeared from my head, though not from my memory.

"What in the devil was that?!" I muttered to myself, trying to make sense of those dashes of foreboding instances…

Lifting my face up from my hands, I craned my head upwards, directing my eyes down the road once more. Upon further inspection, there was a noticeable bend after a considerable walk, the rest of the trail blocked off from my vision.

"The deviants must be lying in wait for a passerby…"

Though the premonition was vague and fragmented, I found there to be little reason for such a disclosure of the mind to be of false pretense.

 _I should find an alternate proceeding,_ I thought to myself. _Or should I?_

After all, it was common knowledge that brigands usually took up stay beside the roads that led to and from towns and municipalities rather than simple villages, as there was more gold to plunder from the average traveler.

"Maybe I could navigate around the bend…"

That would be difficult, especially since I had no possible sense as to where the bandits were laying in wait. However, it briefly occurred to me how likely it was that something unpleasant would occur the longer I stood there contemplating what plan to enact.

"The time is nigh, it seems."

Trekking across the path, I invited myself into the dense shrubbery covering the road, thus sealing my mysterious fate.

* * *

"Am I wading through a jungle?" I muttered to myself, feeling utterly loathsome in having to trouble someone of my status with such clumsy traveling. Of course, I was fully aware of my haughty nature, almost inevitable after being raised in nobility. In all honesty, I was looking for the opportunity to immerse myself in the practice and quotidian customs of the common folk. Nonetheless, I would be deceiving myself if I did not confess that I was rather indignant at the origin of this supposed 'training'.

Aside from that, I was almost dissuaded by how invariably fatigued and weak my body became over such a short amount of time, most surely the result of my once-luxurious lifestyle at my father's estate. Not ten minutes into the traveling and already I was covered in slight lacerations, bruising on the soles of the feet, and other small wounds that made my every step just a bit more hellish.

Notwithstanding this egregious trip, it finally seemed that I had evaded the dreadful encounter, I could clearly view fragmented bits of the dirt road despite the dense forestry-

 _Crack._

I froze, my nerves immediately put on edge. I slowly shifted my gaze downwards towards the culprit of the damnable sound. Judging from the bits of jagged, splintered wood, it seemed that I had...

Stepped on a stick.

"Of all the things…"

Of every occurrence to ever slight my fortune, _this_ was the ultimate irony thus far.

"Oy, whu've we goht 'ere?"

 _Oh, hell._ I thought to myself.

"If you wanna keep yah stahf, we sah-gest you turn yer arse 'terds us."

I opted to oblige his request, seeing as I valued my life, as it was. Gradually, I turned myself to the left, coming face to face with a pair of ragged-looking brigands, wearing the stereotypical garments of an individual that would rob wayfarers on the side of a trail for their pocket change. Dark-skinned to a certain extent, as was common among the populace in this particular region, though it was more so a tint of the flesh than a full drop in color.

The bandit to my right raised the knife in his hands, which appeared to be in sub-par condition. The edge was somewhat jagged and somehow dull at the same time, there appeared to be no hand-guard, and the blade looked more than just a little rusty. Truth be told, it looked like this brute had little interest in maintenance of his weaponry, a clear sign of low intellect and irresponsibility. My pet peeves.

"Roight, so listen ahp, ya fancy grennah. Ahm gunna be filchin' ya stuff, so go 'ead and hand it ova' whoile ya still 'ave ya 'ands."

Listening to this wretched lout speak with such abhorrent diction and with such a surly accent was almost insufferable, and I almost gave into the urge to deliver a hard smack across his face for daring to speak to such nobility in a way deserving that of a mere mutt, yet my desire to not die in a pathetic manner was more impressionable on the mind at the current moment.

"Very well." I seethed, the only words I could manage without sounding condescending. I meticulously reached into my pocket and pulled out the bag of gold that was my wallet and was about to hand it over when a revelation passed my mind.

From what my premonition at the road had revealed, it was somewhat apparent that this encounter could definitely turn for the worse. I had no wish to end up with a knife in my gut, and it was probable that this mugging would end just like that, at least according to what my vision entailed. After all, what reason did these bandits have _not_ to slay me where I stood? I could very well report them to-

"Oy! We 'aven't got all fuckin' day 'eah! 'And it ovah already!"

 _Silence, you ignoble degenerate!_ I wanted to shout, but I held my tongue, as that would surely lead to my quick demise.

 _Blast it all,_ I thought. _Better to try my luck against these barbarians than to give up this opportunity, whilst it is ripe…_

I could feel my heart begin to race quickly as I pulled out the bag of coin and began presenting it by stretching my hand outwards, feigning clumsiness and dropping the bag.

"Ah, damn it all. My folly, sirs." I said aloud, cracking a nervous grin.

The bandit holding the blade to my face shook his head, chuckling.

"Fuckin' A. Ya got buttah fingahs or sum'in, ya git?"

I once more suppressed my wrath at that ignorant statement, seething under the surface.

 _Just you wait, you worm._

The brigand sheathed his knife, leaning over to grab the bag off of the ground.

In a sudden moment, I swiftly moved my right hand behind me, into my coat, and grabbed the handle of the knife from the scabbard tucked into my belt.

The hiss of metal against metal rang out, and the bandit jerked his head up. I seized the opportunity, flipping the knife and thrusting it upwards. The sound of ripping flesh resounded through the woods as the blade of my knife tore through the underside of his jaw.

The bandit's eyes widened in shock, gurgling. I could see the blade of the knife protrude from inside of his mouth.

I was immediately horrified by what I had just done. I tried to pull the knife out, but it was rigidly stuck in his bone and flesh. His comrade stood there in shock, watching me jerk the knife around, causing the poor bastard on the end of my blade to shake around along with it, his legs quivering as strength began to leave his body.

After only a moment, the other bandit's face contorted in rage, and he screamed, unsheathing his own knife and charging at me with ire. I panicked and let go of the knife in my hand, shoving the stabbed bandit backwards, leaving him to claw at the handle of the blade protruding out from under his chin as he fell back, jerking around on the ground violently.

Meanwhile, the ruffian that had charged began to swing wildly at me, his blade making several cuts along my arms as I raised them in defense. I yelled in pain as the cuts stung me, and tripped over my own feet as my heel had gotten caught on a rock embedded in the ground.

I impacted into the dirt below, my arms still raised above me. The bandit sprang on top of me, thrusting the knife downwards towards the center of my chest. I felt his weight bear down upon me quickly as my forearms locked with his. After having briefly closed my eyes in panic, they opened to reveal the point of the blade slowly edging towards my chest as the bandit put on pressure, using his two hands to push down on the pommel.

"Ya gonna pay fah that, ya piece of shite!"

"Nay! Nay!"

I cried in desperation and anger, outraged by this clash, which I was seeming to lose. I watched helplessly as the knife inched closer and closer to my sternum.

I gazed up at the bandit's eyes, which glared at me in feral rage, his desire to kill me fueled by his adrenaline. I closed my eyes in terror, not wanting to see the knife pierce my skin, the blood pour out of my chest, the terrible, rage-filled expression of this ruffian.

 _Is this it? Does my story end here?!_


	2. The Soft Highwayman & Imitator Knight

**Chapter II: The Soft-Hearted Highwayman & The Imitator Knight**

A loud gunshot rang out in my ears, causing me to jerk in bewilderment. My eyes flashed open as I saw the brigand fall to my right, blood spewing out of a large hole in the side of his head.

"Hellfire!" I yelled in shock, crawling away wildly from the mutilated cadaver. I felt a nauseating feeling rupturing in my stomach as I involuntarily glazed my eyes over the recent corpse, yet contained the urge to vomit.

"Problem taken care of."

I heard a voice to my left utter the short insight, craning my head over to view the assailant.

"Oh, hell! Not again!" I crowed, stumbling around to arm myself with a loose rock. The shady-looking individual, whose outfit mirrored that of a common highwayman, brought one hand up in a sign of peace, though I was more so focused on the flintlock he held loosely in his other.

"Relax, bud. Not lookin' to take ya stuff."

His non-confrontational tone served to soothe my nerves, though my adrenaline was still racing from the high-tension battle only a few seconds prior.

The ruffian-looking fellow then swept his eyes around the perimeter, most likely ensuring there were no other deviants lying in wait. After such a moment, he sheathed the rather flimsy-looking dagger he had in the knife holster strapped to his waist, outstretching his gloved hand. After a moment of consideration, I decided it would be best not to get off to the wrong foot with this fellow by refusing. I whipped my arm around, clasping my hand on his forearm as he did with mine, and in one motion, he hauled me up onto my feet. Looking over my outfit, I groaned inwardly at the amount of grime and blood that covered the fine garments.

At the same time, however, I was somewhat grateful. Indications that I was of nobility would surely garner the attention of unsavory individuals, considering the road I seemed to be traveling.

Turning my head over towards the fellow, I bowed my head graciously.

"I must pay homage to your swift entrance, sir. I believe you saved my life."

The individual seemed uncomfortable with receiving my thanks, but nodded in spite of it.

"Well...count your coins lucky that I was here on time."

I had not a faint idea why he elected to use such an odd saying, but I nodded my head in gratitude nonetheless.

"May I have the pleasure of knowing the name of my savior?"

As I inquired this, my eyes scrutinized over his demeanor.

Aside from a dark grey bandana around his mouth, he sported a black, ragged overcoat and a brown undershirt tucked into his dark brown trousers, secured by the silver belt buckle at his waist. His pants were tucked into his brown leather boots, the extra folds spilling over the sides slightly. The handle of an elongated knife jutted out from the worn scabbard in his pants, a shabby flintlock revolver tucked into the belt that ran around his waist, covered by his overcoat. His stance was one that mirrored a criminal on the run, as his eyes would occasionally dart to his left and right, as if always wary of his surroundings. He always kept at least one hand on his knife or flintlock, and he was slightly slouched over, as a shady individual would often do when moving through a crowd to avoid being seen by authorities.

Everything about him suggested his occupation included extortion, muggery, and some other distasteful operations. And yet, the good samaritan act he had just executed was a stark contrast to his sightly presence.

Despite this kind-hearted and noble quality he seemed to possess, as he heard the question I had posed, his eyes slid away from contact with mine and drifted off to the side, as if he was unwilling to disclose this basic conversational courtesy.

"Erm…" The man's sentence trailed off as he hesitated to answer the question. I felt it necessary to prod him for one, as the idea of traveling with an individual whom I did not have a name for was not a pleasant idea to me.

"Come on now. We should not reside here for long."  
"...Dedric." He muttered, and that seemed about as much as he would divulge for now. On a side note, it seemed that Dedric had no possession of a distinct accent, leaving me to wonder where he might be from. His voice was gravelly yet concise, as well as deep in tone, though his limited diction left something to be desired.

"Very well, Sir Dedric. Since we are resorting to first names only, I am Avonnius."

"Avon, then. For short."

I was a tad irked that he had already resolved to confer me a nickname, but now was not the time for deliberation.  
"Very well." I muttered. "Are you heading somewhere, Sir Dedric, preferably a municipality? And if so, may I have the pleasure of accompanying you until we arrive at such a place?"

"Well...not a particular place, really. I've been wanderin' 'round for a while now."

"I...see."

I was a bit off-put by his lack of destination, figuring it to be some sort of lame excuse for banditry, though I did not care to dwell on that too much so. I had myself to worry about at the moment.

Considering the circumstances I had found myself in, I knew it would be insanely irrational to further pursue this trail without any form of serious protection.

"Then, Sir Dedric, if I may be so bold as to request a guarded transport to the next town? I will pay in coin."

Of course, it was necessary to add in the last sentence, for I was afraid that Dedric would not put effort into safeguarding my life unless there was some sort of incentive behind it. Dedric reacted as I had expected, his eyes glimmering at the prospect of payment.

"I mean...sure, yeah. Why not?"

I nodded my head in affirmation.

 _Predictable, as most people are,_ I thought cynically.

However, I did inwardly sigh in relief that he did not try and wager a specific price, for it was painfully aware to me that I had little coin to spare at all.

"Then let us depart from these sinister grounds."

Dedric seemed perplexed by my statement, and I only then realized that he did not have a good grasp of 'ascended' vocabulary, per se.

"Let's leave."

Dedric nodded in understanding, and departed we did, heading down the trail, the moon gazing over us in ominous prognostication of what was to come.

* * *

 _Week 1, Day 1, Midnight_

As we had continued following the dirt-paved road, the night grew on in ever-blackening darkness, the only source of light hailing from the half moon that casted its luminescent shade over the lands. It only served to enhance the already-ominous woodlands around us, as rays of the pale light shot through openings in the dense thicket of the treetops.

We dared not venture into the woods on either side of the trail. Neither of our persons carried light sources on us, and considering that the mesh of the forest was pitch-black, it would surely be a reckless and possibly suicidal notion to even try and make our way through such an uncharted area.

Even grimmer was the prospect that we could not establish a camp for rest, as we did not have any supplies to construct a campfire nor proper sheltering from nature's elements.

As I was beginning to understand our predicament, I couldn't help but fathom why my traveling companion was so ill-prepared from the start. After copious amounts of small talk and a few long-winded conversations, I did not peg Dedric for a fool of any sort. It bewildered me, his nature.

Despite this pattern of conflicting behavior, he was a decent travel partner, considering the circumstances. As we made our way down the trail, the barrier between us began to break down ever so slowly, till the point where we were jesting and conversing informally. I soon came to develop a liking for this crass yet interesting individual.

Time grew on as the road stretched forward, and the hours began to fly by quickly. And yet, so did my wariness of the environment around me. The fact that we had not reached some sort of village or town by this point was beginning to worry me.

Then again, this world was terrifyingly large.

"Ay, so Avon, ya ain't told me where ya came from, why yer 'ere."

My previously casual attitude was butchered as Dedric's question prodded my memory to reminisce over the events only a few hours prior. Dedric seemed to notice my change in manner.

"Sumn' bad 'appen? Don't mean to pry, but I noticed ya garbs are quite...important-looking."

 _Superlative or polished would have suited as better terms_ , I thought haughtily. Of course, I was fully aware that Dedric was most definitely...uneducated, to put it simply.

"Very well. I see no harm in disclosing this." I uttered.

Despite his eyes darting around warily, I knew Dedric was listening in on my tragic tale. I ensured to 'dumb down' my diction so that he could properly understand the story.

"My father's estate, in Drakmenis...it was...attacked, for lack of a better word. Some terrible creatures had breached the defenses, having sneaked in over the outer walls. They laid waste to everything in sight. Buildings, supplies, people, _children_...The surrounding hamlets had also been raided by these creatures."

"Ya said creatures, I've noticed. They weren't...human?"

I shook my head solemnly.

"I didn't get a good look at them, but from what I could make out amidst the fog, rain, smoke and chaos...they were monsters, to say the least."

A sparse moment of silence passed by as Dedric seemed to digest the information.

"What about you? It seems a bit surprisin' that ya weren't caught up in all o' that."

"I had just come back from Yannesburg, a mill town in Tilryn, when I had discovered the state of the place. It was...a dreadful feeling, seeing everything my father had built, every person I had come to know in that estate...all of it gone."

As I was now confronting the reality of the situation, my chest tightened, my throat clenching as I resisted the urge to sob. I bit the inside of my cheeks to hold back my sorrow.

"...That's tragic. I'm, uh, sorry for ya loss, mate."

I nodded in silence.

"But, ah, if it makes ya feel any betta, you've got a fresh start, right? I mean, eh, now ya don't have anything tyin' ya down. Ya can go and travel and, uh-"

A knight stepped out of the darkened forest right onto the trail in front of us.

…

…

…

"What in the…"

His appearance was so sudden that it took me a good moment to comprehend his presence. Dedric, on the other hand, was rapid in his response.

"Didja need sumn', fella?" He responded in an overly aggressive manner.

The knight, who I noticed to be rather mudstained, was resting his hand nonchalantly on the pommel of the sword in his scabbard, his other hand having previously been left hanging in the air idly, was now brought up in a friendly gesture. His visor was lifted up, so that I had view of his surprisingly youthful face, clean-shaven and lacking the wrinkles and scars that most knights often had.

"Greetings, travelers!" He announced, the pitch of his voice changing rapidly as he continued speaking in a wholehearted manner. "I am Sir Haedyr Ponsertaine. To whom doth I oweth the pleasure of meeting on this fine night?"

I could feel Dedric's presence lean in close to my ear as he whispered to me.

"This sob popped out of the woods withou' a torch in his hands. I don't trust this batty bastard one bit."

"I agree." I whispered back. "But let's not make haste with rash measures just yet."

Once again, it eluded my mind that Dedric had a minimal grasp of complex diction, which was further confirmed by his furrowing of the eyebrows in frustration.

"Mate, can ya please speak like a regular basterd, for fuck's sake?"

I resisted the urge to backhand this blithering imbecile for being so terribly unrefined, and reiterated my statement.

"Don't try anything yet. He _is_ a knight, after all."

Dedric nodded in understanding, to my utter relief, and receded his head back. I turned to the knight, who had been uncomfortably awaiting my response with laudable patience. It would not be favorable to lie to a knight, no matter how bizarre their situation seemed to be.

"Apologies for the lack of reply, sir knight."

To my surprise, the knight seemed to take great joy in the way I addressed him, his helmet tilting up slightly in what I conjectured to be delight.

"...We were nonplussed by your sudden entrance, sir knight. I am Lord Avonnius Crestentille of the Sevenaire Estate. This-" I gestured formally over to my travel partner, who seemed to be visibly uncomfortable with the second-hand introduction I was conferring. "-is Dedric. We chanced upon each other a while back down the road, when he honorably saved my life from the clutches of a few brigands that had taken run of these lanes."

The knight's helmet shook as he nodded his head.

"Quite a scrupulous tale, I wilt concede."

I was a bit puzzled by the word he elected to use to describe my retelling, as I didn't find it to be particularly detailed.

"Er…indeed. Aside from that, I would politely inquire as to where you had...originated prior to this meet."

The knight nodded his head slowly, much to my confounding. He acted as a foreigner would to an alien language.

"I see...eth." I heard him mutter.

I was getting more confused by the second. Had I not spoken clearly enough?

I repeated the question, and this time the knight's face shone signs of hesitation and nervousness. I first suspected that he must have had something to hide. And now that I was pondering the situation, there were other problems with this lone knight.

"Sir knight, where is your squad? Don't you soldiers travel in groups, or with an entourage of footmen?"

It was at that remark that the knight seemed to finally grasp, his eyes clearing up in understanding.

"Ah, yes! Mine own platoon..."

 _What in the hell?_ I thought, disturbed. _Did he not comprehend my last assertions?_

"Well, you see, sirs, I am a...scout! Aye, a scout, f'r mine own platoon!"

My eyes narrowed in harrowing suspicion. Even a fool could tell this knight was lying out of his backside. I could feel Dedric's presence once more as he leaned in to speak into my ear.

"This guy is lyin' out of his-"

"I noticed." I hissed, much to Dedric's chagrin. I directed my voice back to the knight, ensuring to raise my volume under the pretense that he had auditory problems.

"Very well, sir knight. In honor of your status, I will hold credence in your affirmation."

I was confident that I had firmly resolved the situation, yet I almost lost my composure when I noticed the knight mirror a most similar expression to Dedric when I spoke, as if I was speaking an entirely foreign language. This befuddled me greatly, as I was under the impression that knights, irregardless of their nationality, were universally given a higher form of education than most other individuals, alongside other training regimes.

 _Something here is amiss_ … I thought to myself in grand suspicion.

"Aside from yond," The knight continued. "I did notice thee two art ill-equipp'd f'r thy travels. Might I spare mine own supplies f'r the night, as a purported sign of goodwill?"

 _Does this man have any inkling of what he is saying?_ I thought in dismay. Not only was his use of Rattlerodic Anglish in actual conversation exceedingly outre, but his misuse of elevated diction was even more bizarre, judging by what he seemed to think 'purported' meant.

Nevertheless, I tried in full measure to move past his queer mannerisms, nodding my head in steady affirmation.

"May Tog bless you, kind sir knight." I responded, bowing my head slightly in gratitude. As surreal as the encounter was, I considered it to be a blessing in disguise. Surely, Tog was looking over me and in my travels…

* * *

Within the hour, and after fervent searching, we had finally settled within a small grove further down the road, a clearing to the side of the trail that served as a near-perfect encampment spot. Giving us a healthy view of the road, yet hidden well enough that a passerby would have difficulty uncovering our position without effort at trying.

As the knight Haedyr laid out his traveling supplies, Dedric took initiative and gathered the ingredients for starting a campfire, whilst the knight himself began laying bedrolls down and, to my surprise, took out some type of wooden object with a hoop and began calmly beating the bedrolls.

"What in the dickens are you doing?" I exclaimed. The knight lifted his head up in question.

"Wherefore, sir, has't thee not ridden thy bedding of the bugs ere?"

I was indeed ill-familiar with this ritual of beating bedding to rid it of bugs, though I vaguely recalled my father describing these practices in his extravagant tales to me prior to his days as lord of his estate. Of course, I never utilized this technique in my travels, as I was scarcely without quality camping supplies in those times.

"...Forget my outburst, sir knight."

He nodded once, resuming his work. Meanwhile, I surveyed our camp site.

Frankly, there wasn't much to analyze. It was a simple campfire, with a carefully-laid rock formation encircling a small mound of twigs and leaves, with the bedrolls laying a few feet away in a triangular arrangement around the fire. I was concerned by the pathetic gathering of sticks and flammables that was meant to serve as fuel for our flame. I discerned that one of the nearby small trees could provide substantial branches for the fire. I directed my attention to Dedric, who was still collecting fuel from amongst the ground and low-hanging trees.

"Dedric."

His head perked up. Remembering the annoying conversation an hour prior about my 'diction', I made sure to limit my vocabulary as I spoke.

"Might I suggest breaking off the branches of those small trees cropped at the edges of the clearing? They could...help…in the...er... _making_ and...uh...how long the fire lasts."

It was shockingly difficult to try and get my point across with layman speech, but alas, it paid off as Dedric acknowledged my suggestion, albeit with a confused expression relating to my fragmented speaking. He began making his way over to a group of said trees, breaking off the smaller branches and bundling them under his arm.

I couldn't help but notice a small swelling in my chest, what I assumed to be satisfaction in my contribution. Or rather, was that a feeling of authority?

Oh well. It was not worth pondering at this moment. Seeing the camp being put together, I felt a strong urge to further contribute to the work at hand, though I wasn't entirely certain in how to implement myself effectively.

"Sir Avonnius, may I impl're thee to see-eth to thy wounds?"

Hearing Haedyr's voice, my eyes instinctively flickered towards his presence. I was starting to notice the lack of proper addressment to me as a lord, even if my father's estate was in shambles. I had then also noticed that his pitch was not as screechy and ridiculously exaggerated as whence we had first met, but rather taking on a soft and quite clear tone instead. I even noted a slight Morvenican accent in his words.

"Sir Avonnius?"

"Uh, indeed, I will, sir knight. I presume you have the supplies to accompany this request?"

"Right thou art, sir!" He exclaimed, pulling out a miscellaneous set of field bandages, stitching supplies, and a bottle of potion, outstretching his burdened hands to exchange with me.

I eyed the needle for the stitching, feeling dread. I was not accustomed nor particularly likened with any sort of piercing object, especially surgeries that required much stitching of the flesh. It was one of the main reasons I served to prevent myself from many rough adventures in or outside of the estate growing up.

Nonetheless, I no longer had the protections I once possessed. Steeling my nerves, I offloaded the supplies off of him, bowing my head gratefully.

"Many thanks once more, sir knight."

The knight seemed off-put by my expression of gratitude, which led me to further doubt this man's legitimacy of claim to occupation. Knights were often some of the most respected and revered figures in Moneian society, and it was ill-often that they did not receive praise and recognition in most venues of travel.

Nonetheless, I served to put aside the suspicion, seeing as his intent thus far nay seemed to hold malice, and resolved myself in tending to my lacerations.

As I made work in first inspecting the severity of my cuts, I was thrice-fold relieved to find that they had little need for stitching. Most of the gashes seemed to be barely half an inch deep, though there were some noticeably deeper slashes.

And yet, I knew that there was still a painful segment to go. I eyed the potion I had been given by the knight.

"A cleansing tincture…" I noted aloud, popping the cork off and wafting the scent of the contents inside towards my nose. It was quite strong, which was to be expected of a bottle with alcohol mixed with various medicinal herbs. As I once more reflected on the suffering that awaited me, I was inclined to prod the sir Haedyr for any spirits he could grant me to spare my mind from the physical pain that was to come, but I reluctantly decided against it. I was resolute in increasing experience for my pain threshold, for I was undoubtedly assured that there were far worse pains down the path I was heading.

 _Pride yourself, man!_ I thought in affirmation, tipping the potion towards my cut arms. _Tis but a mere flesh wou-AAAAAAHHH!_

It took considerably great effort to hold back a ghastly yell of pain as the contents of the bottle stung my skin like several lashings from a whip. I almost dropped the bottle, quickly placing it on the ground and holding my wound as I seethed through my teeth in extravagant pain.

 _By Tog,_ I thought to myself as I nearly keeled over in pain. _What type of hilarious irony is it that the very brew meant to heal causes pain in the process?!_

Then again, it was also quite poetic. I oft considered myself to be the 'goblet-half-full' type of fellow.

"Art thee suff'ring, Sir Avon?"

 _Wouldst thou shutteth the fuck up?_ I almost spouted. I chose to keep that little quip to myself.

"Sir knight, I do not wish to sound crass, but I would ask that you please address me with the titles befitting a lord of his estate, if you so kindly will grant that etiquette."

I went through great pains to not sound arrogant or overbearing in the course of the matter, and it seemed to pay off, as the knight humbly bowed his head in acknowledgement of my request.

"Very well, Thy L'rdship."

"Nah, mate. I ain't doin' that."

I heard the familiar rough voice chirp up from further away, and raised my head to confront the disrespectful cur, my eyebrows furrowing in slight irritation.

"Pardon, Mister Dedric?"

"You 'eard me, mate. You told me that your estate is cocked up, so what're you the lord of, exactly?"

" _You vexatious wretch!"_ I hissed in utter indignation. "How dare you mock up the name of my father's estate! Have you any idea of what prestigious accolades it has attained, the vast wealth and power it has accrued over decades?"

"'Parently not worth too much now, then." He fired back as a quick retort. I felt my anger boil over as the remark reached my ears.

"Come here, you flagrant bastard, so that I may show you the back of my hand!" I yelled, running over and tackling Dedric by the waist. We tumbled to the ground, wrestling for a few seconds before Haedyr came over and forcefully separated us.

"By Tog, men, calm yourselves! Stop acting like children!"

I was quick to feel terrible shame for my behavior, losing all of my fighting energy. Grunting in frustration, I rested the palm of my hand against my forehead, trying to shield my eyes in embarrassment.

"Togdamnit, what am I _doing?"_

Silence ensued as the situation became tense and awkward. I could hear the shuffling of footsteps and grumbling, which I assumed was Dedric retreating to some corner of this alcove we had found. I suddenly felt something grab my shoulder softly, looking up to see Haedyr's sympathetic expression.

"Enough of this moping, comrade. I understand your situation, so why don't we distract ourselves with a little wine?" He said, slightly waving a bottle of the crimson substance in his other hand. I felt a good bit better, both through Haedyr's consolation, and from the alcohol he brandished, which I eyed with a strong craving.

I briefly had a moment of reminiscence, back to when Father told tales of a 'Crimson Plague' at another estate, one that was lost to some ancient evil and was being retaken by adventurers from all corners of the continent. His tales of the Crimson Plague were gruesome yet intriguing, as he described insect-like humanoids drinking from bottles of blood. I happened to reflect upon this as I was staring at the bottle in Haedyr's hand, but my thirst for the tangy rich liquor was more motivational force.

"Let us drink, then."

* * *

It was an hour into the drinking that we began to enjoy the proclivities of nature, as our inebriated spirits were enlightened with the soothing tint of a drunken stupor, if only slightly. The brew of the wine was surprisingly much stronger than anticipated, and quickly overwhelmed my innate tolerance for the alcohol. As I my mind was beginning to swirl into crapulence, I only barely noticed Dedric joining the fray of drinking, and sooner than later all three of us began singing folk songs (despite them being drastically different due to our differing origin locations), and plenty of confessions.

Of course, despite my intoxicated condition, I always considered myself a sort of 'information gatherer' through most means, illicit, immoral and otherwise. So one could easily understand how I just couldn't pry myself from listening in to these confessions by my fellow travelers.

"You know...I must admit to you both, even if it pains me…" Haedyr started, his terrible use of Rattlerodic dropping completely from the conversation. I was intent on his next sentence.

"Ey, uh, Avon, bud...I, uh, just wanted to apologize for earlier, you know-"

"Yes, yes, tis but water under the bridge, Mister Dedric-"

"And, uh, I just wanted to give thanks fer, uh, travelin' with me, ya know? These roads been mighty lonely for a good bit now-"

 _Togdamnit, would you shut the hell up?!_ I thought in great ire. I noticed Haedyr's mouth was moving, and I was quick to strain my ear, listening in on his little spat.

"...not really a knight."

"Pardon?"

The knight's head craned up towards me, the shame in his eyes all too revealing as he repeated his statement prior.

"I...am not really a knight."

 _For fuck's sake-_

"In fact, I just happened to picked up this armor from after a skirmish between a group of knights and a band of war orcs-"

I had already distrusted his credentials when we had first met. If anything, this was a confirmation, and not even a stifling one, at that.

"Ehh…" I groaned, opting to take a seat on the nearby log. The mere action of just listening to someone was nearly overpowering to my bogged down mind. It was in fact that I was starting to...feel...woozy…

I could feel...my...consciousness...slipping further...into the darkness…

Oh Tog…

* * *

"Huh?!"

I at sudden jolted up from where I was on the ground, and was immediately ambushed by an impressionable headache.

"Urgh...that damned wine…"

My strength was fleeting, yet recovering, if only slowly. After a few moments, I had enough to place my forearms against the ground to take a look around the campsite.

To my immediate right was the imitator knight Haedyr, who was passed out on the ground in an undignified manner. My eyes moved past him to focus on, to my surprise, the seemingly awake and responsive Dedric, who was in the midst of checking over his own gear.

"How...in the hell...are you awake?"

Dedric looked up at me and shrugged indifferently, which, if I am being honest, kind of pissed me off.

"I've been travelin' fer a long time now by myself, Ave. You gotta learn how to look out fer number one if ya gonna keep livin'."

There it was again. Yet an even shorter nickname than the one he had whence proclaimed.

"Dedric, I would thrice-fold appreciate it deeply if you did not elect such shortened names for me. It is getting to the point where it sounds like you are calling for a beloved pet."

That sentence seemed to amuse Dedric, who only snickered in response upon hearing that. I experienced a terribly powerful urge to close the gap between us and deck him in the face, but I felt that would be unbefitting of a lord such as myself.

Besides, this headache was preventing me from doing much of anything currently. However, I was desperate to get up, and did so, even at the cost of amplifying the headache that overtook my skull.

"Well, I gather we shouldn't idle here any longer." I announced, offering a slight kick to Haedyr's being, causing him to emit a louder than usual snort. "We should be going now."

It was then that a sharp pain went through my forearms, and I looked down to see that I had not actually dressed the wounds yet after pouring the tincture on them from the night prior.

"Blast it. I'll do it on the road." I conferred to myself, moving to pack up my gear.

"What...prithee...would be going here, sirs?" Haedyr mumbled as he stumbled up onto his feet.

"We are getting a move on. Pack your gear so we can head further down the trail." I took a moment to look at Haedyr. "That is, if you plan on continuing to travel with us."

Haedyr looked up at me, and for a moment there was a sort of...shining...in his eyes, as if he had been given a great opportunity.  
"But of course, comrade! It would be my sincere pleasure to be a part of this group!"

He seemed to have more energy than before, and was now getting up and starting to pack his things. I chose not to respond, instead continuing to pack my own as well. Dedric did the same, and within minutes we were on the road.

And we had a ways to go.

A _long_ ways to go.


	3. The First Skirmish

**Chapter III: The First Skirmish**

 _Week 2, Day 1, Afternoon, Stormy_

A long travel down the road and through the constantly-expanding landscape was what awaited us as we passed along, our bonds as traveling partners growing steadily closer. And yet, I couldn't help but focus on my sole goal, which was to restore my family name by any means necessary. Currently, my only task was to find a way to gather coin. Once I had said money, I could use that to garner favor with political figures, accost myself with lavish comforts, and eventually raise a small army to take back the lands that plagued my homestead.

A simple and unfurnished plan, I will admit, but a plan nonetheless.

"...And so I was askin' this fella, 'how is it that you was able to not only musically talk down a _prince_ of this kingdom, but then completely win over his whole army and stuff with _one speech?_ I swear, this guy was just talkin outta his arse!"

"Well, i shall concede though it sounds far-fetched, it wouldst not be-est impossible f'r such an outcome to occureth."

"Exactly!"

I had to reminisce on just how little of a grasp Dedric had on the Anglish language. Then again, Haedyr was speaking in such a silly manner, mixing up Rattlerodic Anglish so terribly.

"Hold up." I said, interrupting the conversation between Dedric and Haedyr. "Over there." I stated simply, raising my index finger and pointing at the derelict barn that presided in the distance, next to the road we were traveling.

"What about it?" Dedric cared to ask.

"It's been a while since we've taken rest. We should stop here for now and recuperate."

"Do what?"

"For Tog's sake- _rest._ We should rest here for now. Do your bones not ache with the burden of long-distance travel?"

Dedric grew silent, hopefully understanding my point.

"I doth concur, this armor is starting to weigheth heavily on mine own corse."

 _Togdamnit, he's back to it,_ I thought with slight dread as Haedyr's ghastly use of Rattlerodic grace my ears.

"Yes, yes, now, let's get-"

 _And without warning, an indescribably yet familiar feeling washed over me, its alien nature causing my knees to become slack. I fell to the ground as the powerful energy wrapped around my mind, images of the future blasting forth._

 _ **Ambushed, fighting ensues-  
Corpses line the ground-**_

 _ **Shifty eyes, something to hide?-**_

 _ **Dead bodies-**_

 _ **Bandits, opening door-**_

 _ **Dedric falls, blood seeping-**_

And as suddenly as they had arrived, the images disappeared from my mind, leaving me to tremble on the ground.

"Fuckin' hell, are you good, Avon?!"

I was somewhat reassured to hear Dedric as he came to check on me, followed quickly by Haedyr.

Slowly, I came to take my hands off my head, as I had been previously clutching at my skull during the premonition. The recurrence of this bizarre phenomenon within my mind was terrifying to me, as I had no idea what the cause of such visions had came from. Was I diseased? An oracle of some sorts? Or...was this something else entirely?

Furthermore, I was disturbed by how powerful this premonition was. The last one had not felled me to the ground as this one had, and was seated for an internal discussion of whether there was a correlation between the gravity of a situation and the intensity of these visions. I also noted that this time around, the events that transpired out of my mind were out of order, almost like the timeline was mixed up in random.

"Oy, Avon! You alright?"

I was distracted from my pondering by Dedric's urgency, his face full of concern. I was surprised by the relief I felt upon viewing the apparent worry in his and Haedyr's expressions, but I quickly pushed them aside. There was a more pressing matter to address as of now.

"Yes, yes, I am fine. I...there is something I need to warn you of, friends."

I got up from the dirt, brushing myself off as I did so, and I noticed my companions' gazes follow me as I was in the process.

"Enough with the staring, now. Aside from that, there is something with which I must divulge urgently."

And so I proceeded to inform them of my 'vision', taking good care to elaborate on the detail of what I had witnessed.

"Forsooth, yond doest not f'retell well. What doth thee proposeth, Sir Avonnius?"

I took a moment to ponder. I had not yet fully deciphered the premonition, including the number of enemies we would be facing, their weaponry, and what type. Of course, it was clear that we would be facing human adversaries, which was a good bit more reassuring than other foe I had in mind.

"There's not much we can do. If we are to gain rest or travel further without fear of ambush, we must take down these bastards first."

"Can't we just sneak on by?" Dedric chimed in.

"That would be a risky bet, for they might have spotted us as we came down the road, or they might notice us as we travel along. Since Haedyr's armor clinks quite loudly when he walks, it's going to be more likely that they hear it and come out to investigate." I shook my head grimly. "Unfortunately, we must confront them here and now."

I noticed my comrades' expressions express worry as they were notified of the oncoming fight. I noticed both of them were shaking slightly, though Haedyr was a good bit better at putting on a brave face than Dedric, who was mumbling to himself.

I had to admit, that I, myself, was thricefold trembling at the thought of taking on unknown foes. And yet, my mind was racing, concocting a plan to gain the advantage over our enemies.

From what I could see of the derelict barn, the top open window that sat above the large, wooden double doors was blocked off with some barricade, which soothed my nerves as I realized that they had no height advantage over us, at least not with that barricade in the way. They could have heard us coming, but they had no idea how many, since we had not yet passed by the small open slots on the sides of the barn.

My mind finally came up with something of substance, and I addressed Dedric and Haedyr.

"Listen close, friends. Dedric, unsheathe your blade now, but do it silently, or as silently as you can. Haedyr, you will go up to the barn door and knock, attracting the attention of whomever's inside, and act as a knight that is doing routine checks on the surrounding area. Dedric and I will make our way to the edges of the sides of the barn, out of view of any individual that opens the door. If and when the individual tries to attack you, we'll intercept him as he's doing so, and we'll have the advantage of surprise on our side as we take out whomever else lays in wait inside the barn."

The two nodded in understanding as they took in my plan.

"Prithee, bid me wherefore I am the one addressing the brigands?"

"You're in full-plated armor, and thusly you have a far better chance of surviving a sudden attack than us."

"Oh...Ah, yes! Mine own task is clear."

"Then, let us execute this plan with swift victory in mind."  
With that, Dedric and I unsheathed our blades in a way so that the blade swiping across the inside of the sheath would not release the rasp of ringing metal, and made our way towards the sides of the barn, with Dedric taking the left flank whilst I took the right. I ensured to watch where I stepped, so as to not cause any alarming cracks from another damn stick.

Once I had my back pressed against the side of the barn, I looked over and across from where I was to Dedric, positioned opposite of me, about 5-10 meters away. I then looked at Haedyr, who was beginning to making his way towards the large, wooden double doors of the barn, his armor clinking and shuffling as he did so. I could see he was clearly on edge, though he was trying to hide it as much as possible for the act he was going to pull.

From within the barn, I heard shuffling and faint voices, some of them seemingly in alarm as they heard Haedyr approach the barn doors.

Finally, Haedyr came to a stop in front of the barn door, hesitating to knock.

"Come now, Haedyr." I whispered to him. "We have your back."

Haedyr looked to me, his face softening slightly in reassurance. With one deep breath, he brought his hand up and knocked on the barn door politely.

…

…

…

 _Creak._

I whisked my head back just as the one of the barn doors creaked open.

"Whut?"

The voice that came from behind the door was scratchy and deep, laden with another one of those insufferably retarded thuggish accents, the same as the brigands that held me up around a week ago.

"Why, fine sir, I am Knight...Hardon."

 _Excuse me?_ I thought, flabbergasted by Haedyr's choice of a fake alias.

There was a snicker from behind the door, then another question.

"Whu've you goh' wit' us, Sir Knoight?"

"Well, sir, mine own squad and I art checking the local...er...ordinances-"

 _That is definitely not the word I was expecting,_ I thought to myself.

"-For dangerous persons. If it be true thee wouldst befall to _knoweth_ of anybody matching yond description , I wouldst implore yond thee bid me."

"Seen no one o' that sort, sire-"

As the bandit pushed open the barn door a bit more, Haedyr's face contorted into horror as he witnessed something from within the barn. I could visibly see sweat begin to trace down his face.

"V-Very well, s-sir...I...uh-"

As Haedyr went on stammering, the bandit's voice suddenly dropped into a threatening manner.

" _You weren't supposed to see that."_

Then, out of nowhere, the bandit launched forward, ramming Haedyr into the ground and climbing on top of him, dirk in hand. I was about to intervene when Dedric suddenly jumped in, pulling the bandit off of Haedyr and throwing him to the ground, before sticking his dagger into the bandit's gut. The bandit cried out in pain, holding his wound as blood seeped onto the ground.

I ran up to Haedyr, ensuring he was not wounded.

"Have you been stabbed? Injured?"

"Nay, friend...Though I profess, I nearly soiled my nappers."

I chuckled a bit at the joke. I was plentifully worried that something might've gone wrong, but it turned out we were-

 _SLAM!_

My head swiveled towards the door to see a large man barrel out and towards me. As I got up, I felt a hard hit into my ribs, flying backwards a few feet and hitting the ground with a hard impact.

"Errrgghhh…." I groaned, feeling my ribs ache with bruising. I looked up to see a large, swarthy man, wearing a large ragged hoodie over his face. He gazed down at me with anger in his eyes. I felt fear pervade my mind as I realized that I had underestimated the number of foes.

I witnessed Haedyr tackle the large brigand from the side, the two falling out of sight of my limited vision. As I heard their struggles, I took this opportunity to try and recover from that brutal attack, looking up to gauge my surroundings.

Another bandit had followed closely behind the large foe, and had engaged in a clash of knives with Dedric, who was on the defensive. Metal screeched against metal as their blades swiped, slashed and stabbed.

Luckily, it seemed like no one else had come out of the farm, and now we were left with two foe, who were engaged with my allies. I decided to take advantage of this situation. I looked over towards Haedyr and the beast of a man, who had a cudgel in his hands and swiped it, hitting Haedyr's helmet from the right

 _ **CLANG!**_

The sound made me cringe as I imagined Haedyr's head reverberating inside helmet. Between Dedric and him, he was definitely starting to lose the battle. Thus, trying to ignore the bruising of my ribs, I struggled up to my feet and ran towards the brigand, brandishing my knife. As the brigand raised his cudgel over Haedyr, I was cursed with imagining Haedyr's head caving in. The morbid thought invigorated me with anger, and I thrusted myself forward, shoving the knife into the bandit's side. A booming yell of pain reverberated in my ears, and I felt myself swung to the ground as the bandit turned his side quickly, causing the hilt of the blade in my hands to throw my grip off. As I hit the ground once more, I made a mental note to hone my footwork, for fear that I might start becoming familiar with the feeling of smacking into the dirt.

I looked up and, to my fortune, the bandit's turning had been a fatal mistake on his half, as the force of my grip upon the blade before I was swung off combined with the knife blade already in his stomach, which had caused the entire blade to slash open a wide cut that spanned from his side all the way to his belly.  
What happened next I was terribly unprepared for. As the wound opened up, a large portion of his inner guts spilled out of the wound, along with a fountain of blood, cascading onto the dirt below. The large brigand looked down in pain and shock at his exposed innards, falling to his knees. As the life literally drained out of him, he weakly tried to cover his gaping wound with his hands, to little success. Within moments, his body drained of the vital fluid, he fell face first into his own pool of blood and guts, dead.

The very sight of it caused me to immediately vomit to the side, utter disgust encapsulating my senses. I could barely focus on anything as I tried desperately to rid my mind of that _horrific_ sight.

However, with what I could barely comprehend in the moment, it seemed to me that the battle had ended, and in our favor. For a moment, I was afraid that Dedric might've been bested in his duel. My fears were dissipated as I heard him groaning and cussing wildly, filling me with relief.

After a few moments of recuperation, my eyes and head rotated slowly towards Haedyr, and I noticed he seemed to be dazed as he was laying on the ground. His limbs moved around slowly and confusedly, which conveyed to me that his head must have definitely taken a hard bash, especially considering the brute that had done it.

Finally, with considerable willpower, I resisted the urge to vomit and got up from my place, my legs shaking wildly as the after-battle effects started setting in. I looked towards Dedric, noticing he was bent over as he sat next to his dead foe. He seemed to be holding what looked to be a knife wound to his side, though thankfully, it didn't seem to be leaking too much blood.

However, seeing as Dedric was mentally functional, I decided to make my way over to Haedyr, who was less so.

I took a knee beside him, and went to remove his helmet. As I took it off, I cringed at the swollen sore surrounding the area on the right of Haedyr's head.

"Urgh…" He mumbled, before trying to speak incoherently to me. I worried greatly that he would become mentally retarded from this event, though I had to keep headstrong and have faith that he (or at least, his skull) was strong enough to prevent any egregious damage to his mind palace.

"Come now, we've won the skirmish, my friend. We should reap the rewards of our...victory."

I hesitated to even call it that. The damage that had been done to us by two mere bandits signaled to me a sense of naivete, subpar combative skills, and a general aura of 'what in the hell am I doing?' within our group. Nonetheless, we were still standing (at least, one of us was) at the end of the battle, and considering that none of us were the poor bastards laying in the dirt, I marked it to be a shaky victory.

"Is your being well, Dedric?" I shouted over to the still shady-looking individual part of my- erm, _our_ entourage.

"It feels like the devils of Hell are shovin' their fiery cocks in my wound."

"...I shall interpret that to be a 'yea'."

* * *

Minutes passed by as I went to work treating the wounds of my comrades, occasionally groaning loudly as I did most things physically, my bruised ribs calling for me to cease active movement. I ignored the cries and kept on.

Finally, with Dedric and Haedyr treated, I went to the task of looting the bandits' bodies for useful items, taking great care to move my mid-region as little as possible. I was somewhat surprised to find a sizable amount of coin on their persons, along with some traveling supplies.

"3 shillings and 80 pence...these must've been successful highway robbers." I thought aloud. Considering that one could buy a good axe for 25 pence, this was quite a haul for just a couple small-time highwaymen.

"Oy, Avon…"

I looked over at Dedric to witness him walking up to me, holding his bandaged stab wound. I was not particularly bothered by his injury compared to Haedyr's, as it would only take a few days at most for the wound to heal. Oddly enough, Moneians were often more resilient than other nations' natural-born citizenry. Then again, most humans in general were very resilient compared to those 50 years ago, mainly as we've had to adapt to being in the same world with such monstrously large titans, and the strain from dealing with the magical environment around us built up a tolerance and physical adaptability. This in turn enhanced our-

"Avon. Hello?"

I was disrupted from my train of thought by Dedric, who I inadvertently gave a look of irritation.

"The hell? Whut's got yer rocks off, mate?"

 _Still not the correct usage of a phrase,_ I thought in disappointment.

"That look was unrelated. Now, what did you need, friend?"

"What's we gonna do now?"

"What?"

"I said what's we gonna-"

"I know what you said, I'm thinking currently."

"Well…" Rulf looked around, concern written on his face. "We should be doin' somethin'. I'm feelin' a bit...paranoid."

I was about to dismiss his remark, especially considering that I did not get any premonition of forthcoming danger, but an idea sprang forth into my mind.

Currently, we were still in Drakmenis, and as much as I wanted to stay in familiar territory, I was terrified of those monstrous cretins that had ravaged my father's estate making their way up to us. Unfortunately, I would have to rely on the kingdom's military force to dispatch of those bastards.

However, I was unsure of whether or not Dedric and Haedyr would be just as willing to go along with me to another province. Hell, I would not bat an eye if they were planning to drop me off at the next town and dispatch.

And yet, I could not have that happen. This impersonal relationship with these two was profitable for me mainly because they _didn't cost money to keep with me._ I had no idea what motivated them to keep on continuing with me without any pay. Maybe there were fueled by personal reasons, wanderlust, or some other force of human nature, but they were nearly invaluable to me in this moment, as they proved in battle just now that I could trust them to have my back, both while I slept and in combat. All this without the incentive for pay meant that, ultimately, they must be...my...friends?

 _Nonsense,_ I thought to myself. _There must be another, more selfish pragmatic reason for their behavior. But now's not the time for rumination._

I turned to Dedric, trying to imitate an expression of grim warning.

"That feeling is not remiss, Dedric. I have just received another premonition only seconds ago. We are in grave danger if we stay within this region."

Unsurprisingly, Dedric's eyes widened in fear as I falsely confirmed his paranoia.

"W-Wait, really? Oh, Tog!" However, something came to his mind as he was in the midst of panicking. "Just a second. Shouldn't you have fallen to the floor if you received one o' those 'premonish-uns', like before?"

"The intensity of these visions is based on how close the danger is. I've only been warned that the beasts that attacked my father's estate are heading westward, towards us."

"What doth be this...about visions and danger, comrades?" Haedyr interjected, his speech a bit slurred and his sentences a tad mumbled and hesitant, as the bash sustained to his head was making itself present in his behavior.

"You heard me clearly. Those red-eyed, bony, monstrous demons are headed in our direction. We need to make haste out of this country if we are to survive."

I could see Dedric was absolute in his decision to leave, though I felt a pang of worry as I read Haedyr's expression of hesitation. I was amazed he could even talk normally with the heavy-handed strike he had taken to his cranium, much less _think_.

I decided I could not take the chance of letting him ponder the decision for too long. I closed the gap between us, much to his alarm, and came up towards his face, hovering my head only inches from his. I stared ominously at him, seeing the fear and trepidation in his eyes.

"Wh-What is...the matter...Sir Avon?"

"Have you ever been stabbed before, Haedyr?"

"I-I cannot say I have…"

"Imagine. A hot, piercing pain within you, setting fire to your innards as your mind screams in pain. The very feeling evokes terror just from the sight of it. Surely, you have at least witnessed a stabbing before?"

Haedyr fell silent, only nodding his head.

"At the estate, when my father's land was being laid to waste by those monstrous creatures, I had the terrible displeasure wrought upon me of seeing the citizenry, guards, nobility, servants, _families, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters_ being preyed upon by these vermin. _Ripped to shreds._ I witnessed the monsters rake their claws across them, impaling them with their elongated arms, then tearing them in half. I was witness to a mere 7 year old boy, crying out for his mother, jumped upon by a pack of these hellspawn and torn from _limb to limb_ mercilessly. They're morally bankrupt cretins from the depths of Hell. If the mere idea of _stabbing_ is terrifying to you, what do you think you'll feel when your innards are _raped_ and _torn_ apart by those mangled claws? When your head is bitten off, your eyes gouged out, your head cracked open like an egg and your brains _devoured_? And yet you still desire to stay _here,_ where these unspeakably horrible _monsters_ are going to travel to in hordes?!"

"NAY! NAY!" Haedyr blubbered, tears streaming down his face as his mind was filled with the horrors of the images I had sent through his head. He fell at my clothes, grasping at the edges of my coat in terror. "Please, Sir Avon, let us not stay here a second longer! Please!"

I was satisfied, though feeling a bit guilty, of my successful attempt at fearmongering. Of course, I had made up the spectacle of seeing anyone torn apart or killed. After all, I had just come back from a trip to a neighboring town only to witness the aftermath of the ravaged lands, and even then I had not stayed but a few moments before leaving in a hurry.

Nonetheless, I had them both under wraps. Dedric, who had already been convinced before, had turned pale over the course of my little speal to Haedyr, shaking violently.  
"Tog help me...Tog help me…"

I felt that maybe I had overdone the act. Nonetheless, it was time to mobilize.

"Come now, friend, there is no need to fear. I know of a plan to simultaneously rid ourselves of these morbid beasts and rid those beasts of this blessed world."

Haedyr's face came up towards me, his eyes turning like a tide from fear and desperation to hope and salvation. I was almost mortified with myself for mentally breaking down this man and promptly offering solace.

"P-Please, Lord Avon, please! The fate of which you described is nothing that I want a part of! Deliver us from the evil whence you proclaim!"

"I-I second that…" Dedric muttered, slinking over to me. "Let's get the hell out of this damn place, if it's gonna be attacked by those bloody devils…"

I nodded, looking to the barn.

"If there are any horses in there, we can saddle them up for travel."

* * *

The barn did indeed have some horses stocked away, most likely the bandits, or maybe victims of their robbery. Nonetheless, we would now make use of them.

Within the hour, we had finally gotten everything squared away, our horses saddles and our supplies refurbished, at least a bit, from what the brigands had on them. We would definitely need to visit a few towns and villages along the way, but generally, we were ready.

As I mounted my horse, I urged my horse to canter up to the trail where we would be heading off and looked over the horizon, beyond the treeline. Vast swaths of forestry, mountains and nature awaited me in the distance. I suddenly felt a pang of excitement and wanderlust, the desire to explore this untamed world swimming around in my chest.

Thinking of the possibilities, the opportunities, the ups and downs of my future endeavors, I felt...

 **Free.**


	4. A Dismal, Yet Humble Haven

**Chapter IV: A Dismal, Yet Humble Haven**

 _Week 4, Day 3, Dusk_

Two whole weeks of nothing but travel ensued, the three of us banding together against the common hazards of the trail. Raging storms, wild beasts, and surprisingly only one other instance of encountering bandits. We had dispatched of them, however, with a sneak attack, thanks to an incoming premonition.

Over the course of those weeks, we had also seen a change in scenery. The landscape went from forestry and mountains to open plains more often, though it was not a remarkably noticeable difference.

Finally, after awakening from a brief rest in an alcove of the woods, we trudged on, our legs weary from nearly a month's travel on foot.

"By Tog, I don't think I can feel the soles of my feet anymore."

"I must agree with Dedric on this one. I believe my….ankles...are suffering at the hand of this wretched, rough dirt."

"Weary is the traveler who gets close to their journey's end." I quoted.

"Fuck's that mean?" Dedric interrupted rudely.

"It means that your tired feet is a sign we are close to the destination we desire."

"And what in the hell is that destination?"

As much as I wanted to retort that snappy comment, I didn't have a viable answer. In fact, I had been wondering for more than a fortnight where we would be going. I had been edging to find somewhere, someplace where I can start a new life, and hope to redeem myself for all the losses I-

"Wow, that place is pretty big." Dedric noted. I looked up to where he was staring, and marveled at the sight.

Sweeping plains in either direction, leading up to a slow ascent into a small, abandoned village, with rocks hanging off the edges of the cliffs around it. Further up, a large, crumbled keep sat atop the large end of the cliff. A quarter mile down a steeper slope, an abandoned town on the bay was nestled next to the cliffside, right of a beach that stretched far along the coast, beyond what the eye could see.

"Marvelous."

It was all I could say. The sight was amazing. And now I was starting to get just the cusp of an idea. I looked back at Dedric and Haedyr, who were gazing at the sight as well.

"We'll camp here."

* * *

We had made our way into the village, cantering our horses slowly on the off chance that there were any enemies hiding within. I slid off mine, unsheathing my dirk, alongside Dedric and Haedyr, who had followed suit with their weapons. We began to search cautiously through the hamlet, only looking through broken holes and windows, seeing where we could set up.

"That church up there seems sturdy enough." Dedric remarked, pointing at the tall church-like structure a dozen meters away.

"It does. When we're done clearing this village...well...if we _do_ clear this village…"

I noticed that I had caught Dedric's stare, which seemed to express anguish.

"Why in the hell would you say something like that?"

I felt a little embarrassed by his question, but I recognized his concern. I was aware that I could be unnecessarily morbid at times.

"Er, regardless, we'll take rest in the church _when_ we finish clearing the village."

And we did, with no trouble whatsoever. It was unsettling, actually. Mysterious that nothing hostile had taken up stay in an abandoned town. Considering the sheer amount of creatures that roamed this world, I was more than skeptical of the barren land. Haedyr propped his sword against his shoulder, flipping up the visor to his helmet.

"I must adjudicate, it be-eth more than alarming to mine own self that there have been naught but a single creature within the confines of this fine hamlet-"

"Yeah, there's no bloody mongrels hangin' around 'ere." Dedric interrupted.

"...I agree-eth."

"It matters not." I concluded aloud. "Let's not test our luck. We should make our way into the church so we can scrutinize over matters unaddressed."

Haedyr and Dedric nodded, though I was somewhat doubtful that they understood the second half of my sentence.

Nonetheless, we retreated back to the church, which wasn't actually a church at all, but instead a wide, open room with a small winding staircase that led to a sort of guard tower above. We had thought about exploring the building a bit, but seeing as we were fatigued, we decided to instead take a short rest and consolidate our strength.

Haedyr and Dedric began to set up a campfire (or rather, struggled to) within the building, as the natural lighting from the windows only reached so far inwards.

Meanwhile, I wandered around to gain an understanding of the history behind this church-like structure. I was amazed to find that there were little dilapidation to the building. Barely any cracks, none of the windows were broken. If it weren't for the dust that had gathered within the building, I could have easily mistaken the establishment for being newly-built.

"By Tog, good man, can thee _please_ keep thine pile centered?"

"Maybe I could, Haedyr, if ya'd stop strikin' the flint across the steel towards me bloody hand-"

 _Clank._

We all moved up into battle-ready positions as a nearby empty can fell to the ground few meters away. After a moment of tense silence, Haedyr began to move towards what we had now seen to be the entrance into the scouting tower atop the building.

"Damn, we didn't search the tower." Haedyr mumbled in frustration. "We let down our guard too quickly."

I was prone to agreeing, but I didn't see it as particularly necessary at the moment.

When Dedric and I approached slowly behind Haedyr, we had not a single moment to react when someone jumped out of the shadows, holding a crude shank of sorts with shaky hands. I immediately noticed it was a woman, who seemed frail, frightened and weak. Her dark hair was dirtied and displaced, her skin covered in dirt and soot, her clothes tattered and ragged.

"By Tog! You scared the demons out of me!" Haedyr yelped, his hand on the pommel of his sword. And yet, as she stood there, shivering, he did not pull it out.

"Stay back! Don't _fucking_ come near me!" The woman shouted in a panic, her eyes filled with fear. "I'll gut you like a fish!"

Haedyr reeled his head at the statement. "My lady, please," He said soothingly, approaching the woman casually with an outstretched hand. "You shouldn't let such things pilfer such a fine-"

The woman grabbed him by the wrist, twisting it and pulling his torso towards her as he yelped in shock, before wrapping her arm around his neck and facing him towards us, using the palm of her weapon hand to flip up his visor and raising her shank to his face.

"Wh-What in Hell's bells?!" He proclaimed in confused terror.

"Stay back!" She shouted at myself and Dedric, who had his knife out and pointed at her. "Or I'll slit his throat!"  
I myself was alarmed by this unfortunate blunder. What initially was a situation that could have been solved simply by moving aside as the woman left now devolved into a hostage situation because of Haedyr's inability to read a threat correctly. I subconsciously noted to chide Haedyr later on treating armed adversaries as such, no matter who or what they seemed to be. I raised my arms cautiously, opting not to pull my dagger, but instead try and negotiate with this woman.

"My lady, we're not here to harm you." I stated simply, staying in my position. I had been taught by my father on dealing with hostage negotiations (in the event that he or I were ever in that situation), the first rule being to establish friendly relations with the hostage taker and avoid movements that could be taken as threatening. It seemed to work, as the woman seemed to loosen from her rigidness a bit, though she remained shaky and cautious as we spoke.

"Just let me leave and I swear I'll never show my face to any of you again...please…"

I was about to respond when I noticed Dedric eyeing the woman up and down like a wolf would to meat.

"Maybe some favors first…" He mumbled. When his eyes drifted over towards me, I stared daggers at him.

"I suggest you watch what you say next, Dedric. Very carefully."

"What the...we're on the same side here, Avon!"

"You insult me by insinuating that I would try and use this moment to garner any favors from this clearly-battered woman." I said harshly. Of course, I found Dedric's sexual drive to be very helpful at this moment, for now I was put in a favorable light with her, as I noticed her eyes soften as she heard what I had said.

Meanwhile, Dedric grumbled, but kept his mouth shut. I turned my attention to the woman again, my hands still out and open in a friendly gesture.

"I promise you, my lady, _neither_ of my associates here will lay a finger on you." I made sure to emphasize the point by glancing over at Dedric, who sighed in frustration.

"I get the fuckin' point, Avon."

With that assured, I continued forward in my negotiation.

"My lady, all we want to do is take a stay in this place. Now, believe me when I say that I am _very_ sure you've met your fair share of ruffians who've promised the same thing to you and lied. I will go a step further to prove it."

With that, I slowly lowered my hands to my belt, though the woman pointed her knife at me.

"What are you doing?"

"Relax, my lady. I am simply undoing my holster. I am going to hand it over to you. My friend here will do the same, after he has sheathed his dagger." I jabbed a thumb towards Dedric, who stared at me with outrage.

"I will bloody fuckin' not! Leave myself defenseless?!"

I looked back at Dedric with a tired expression. Granted, this was not something Father had taught me in hostage negotiations, and that giving up my only means of defense was foolish unless I was backed up by others. However, I decided to take a leap of faith for this woman. What for, I was not sure.

"You will, or our contract of gold will be null and void."

Dedric's face contorted in indignation, and for a few moments I was afraid I had pushed him too far. I inwardly sighed in relief when he sheathed his dagger and began to unbuckle his holster as he fumed.

"You dumb fuckin' prick, tellin' us to give this random arse our weapons…"

We both threw them at the woman's feet. By this time, she seemed much more relieved as well, the knife lowered away from Haedyr's face.

"Ma'am, if I may be so bold as to request you please, uh, let me go now?"

"Unbuckle your holster too."

"Right away."

"And take off your armor."

"...Of course."

Eventually, as Haedyr dropped his holstered sword to the ground, along with his shield and his metal armor, which were pushed into the far corner of the building, she eventually released Haedyr back to us, keeping her shank pointed at us all.

"I'm going to get my stuff, then I will leave. Don't think of following me." She threatened.

"Wait, what?" I questioned. "Why are you leaving?"

She looked at me as if I were mad in the head. "Well, clearly, this place is no longer safe to stay. Since you three got here, I assume that means other may also start to use this road. I can't have that."

"Why are you running?"

She hesitated upon hearing the question, before slowly shaking her head.

"I...I don't need to tell you that."

"Well, you don't need to, but what harm can come of it?"

"Too much harm!"

I was taken aback by the fear in her voice.

"Well, my lady, I can assure you, now that you've seen that we were willing to trust you with our weaponry, that maybe-"

It was at this moment that I noticed Haedyr fade into the shadows out of the corner of my eye. I was alarmed, and I was about to call him out when a metal rasp was heard, and the woman's eyes widened in panic as she tried to turn around, but was immediately confronted by Dedric, who had his dagger pointed at her once again. I was more shocked to also see Haedyr dash around her, stumbling once, before pulling the sword out of the holster on the floor and also brandish it towards the woman.

"What in the blazes do you two think you're doing?!" I shouted at them.

"Did you really think I'd trust this person with my weapons, Avon?" Dedric spouted in an outburst. Haedyr said nothing, but silently and rapidly nodded his head in affirmation to Dedric's point. The woman turned back towards me, the fear now more present in her eyes than before.

"No...no…" She muttered, tears beginning to stream down her face as she backed herself away from me and the other two. "Don't…"

I looked between her and Dedric and Haedyr, my head spinning. What the hell was going on?

Before I could even piece anything together, the woman then changed her behavior completely, her face seeming to reset. She dropped her shank to the floor, facing me. Dedric and Haedyr were confused by this sudden decision. We were all then stunned when she walked towards me slowly, crossing the few meters between us, and laying her shaky hands on my chest and leaning towards my ear.

"I will...let you take me...but _please_...only you...just don't kill me...or torture me…"

I was horrified by what this woman was suggesting. I could feel her tears dripping down her cheeks and onto my shoulder.

"Erm...Avon...what's she doin'?"

I could take no more of this. I backed away from her and into the wall behind me.

"Enough." I stated. "Dedric, Haedyr, sheathe your weapons."

"What?!" Dedric shouted in outrage once more. "For fuck's sake, Avon, that's enough of-"

I stomped over towards him, which threw him off, before grabbing his wrist and twisting it hard, to which he yelped, before punching him in the face, knocking him to the ground. I kneeled down, grabbing the dagger he had dropped, and brought it up to his face, confronting him with a grim expression.

"I said... _enough_."

Dedric stared at me with apprehension, raising his hands above his face.

"Okay, okay!" He stammered. I released him, raising myself up to look at Haedyr, who had already thrown his weapon to the side.

"I yield." He said simply.

I looked back at the woman, who stared at me with a mixed expression of fear, relief, and gratitude.

"Now…" I said with exasperation. "Can we please have a civil chat by the campfire?"

* * *

The atmosphere was far more awkward after the tension died down, as Dedric usually casted looks of resentment towards me occasionally as we continued preparing the campfire. I offered the lady food and shelter for the night, and to my surprise she accepted. I thought her to have been in a very desperate state after what had just occurred.

When the fire was finally ablaze, we all took a seat beside it. I noted subtly how the woman sat next to me, far closer than Dedric and Haedyr, who sat in front of the fire opposite of me. I felt as if I had alienated my two closest compatriots for this woman's trust, but I decided I could win them over later with a little persuasion once again.

We each split a few rations of dried jerky, bread, hard butter and some water. I also unfurled a bottle of wine I had kept for myself when I felt a celebration was amidst, but I thought it necessary to give everyone here a bit so as to loosen them up after that tense standoff.

It did just the trick, and after only a few cups of the brew (it was strong stuff, I assure you), the atmosphere was much more friendly and easygoing as the crowd got more inebriated.

I had poured my drink out long ago, though. I felt an odd sensation for this woman, who revealed her name to be Melina, a desire to get to know more about her and whatever sordid mysteries her past held.

This held up even more so as I discovered her to be quite charismatic, charming even with people. The way she spoke was subtly graceful, yet casual and laid-back when she conversed with Dedric and Haedyr. Clever quips, humorous stories, and her ability to empathize clearly with the other two amazed me. I had never once met an individual that was able to turn the atmosphere on its head so quickly, with people she had just held a knife to only minutes ago.

Furthermore, Dedric and Haedyr, who had been previously residing on the opposite end of the crackling campfire, had moved over more closely. I breathed a quiet sigh of relief that the divide had ended quickly.

As I took another sip of the wooden cup in my hands (which I had filled with water), I could hear Dedric scoot over towards me drunkenly to whisper in my ear.

"You know, Ave, I think we misjudged this dame too quickly."

 _There he goes again, giving me a bloody nickname,_ I thought in irritation.

"Oh?" I responded absentmindedly, my attention focused mainly on Melina.

"Ye. I think we should try and...I dunno, uh...make her stay?"

I cocked my head over towards him with a look of loathing on my face.

" _Make_ her stay?"

"Er...I mean...you know... _convince_ her. Like you did to me and, uh, Haedyr."

That thought had been the one thing on my mind this entire time. I had a nearly-irresistible urge of curiosity for this woman. Though I needed to find a way to 'convince' her, I assumed it would not be particularly difficult, considering the circumstances she seemed to have found herself in.

"So, _Melina_ …" Haedyr started, his eyes drifting over towards her. "How did you come to...be in this...state?"

Conversation fell to the floorboards as he asked the question. I was a bit annoyed that he had caused the atmosphere to drop back to such an awkward state, but I was also curious to her answer. A few moments passed as she held the half-filled wooden cup of wine in both her hands, taking a small drink as she glanced towards the fire.

"If I'm going off the last thing I am evading...The Romana Empire."

My jaw dropped. Haedyr spit out his drink. Dedric laughed raucously, slapping his knee.

"That's a good one!" He chuckle, taking a swig of his wine. "Tog, and she's _funny_ too!"

"Surely you are indeed jesting, Melina?" I asked, a little panic starting to rise in my gut. The Romana Empire was a powerful kingdom west of Moneia, that took up a large portion of the land between here and Neriac, the continent bordering on this one. To become one of their enemies was...not good at all, to say the least.

I was hoping that Melina was indeed joking about the matter, but her expression said otherwise. This was a dilemma for me, as I would need to know just how big of an enemy she was to them before I could do anything about her state.

"Okay, well...if you are serious, surely you weren't a particularly huge threat to this empire...surely?"

I was thrice-fold relieved to see her shake her head.

"No." She muttered. "I only had to run because I angered one of the high-tier noble ladies, and found out that she was planning on sending ruffians to...deal with me."

Dedric's laughing had stopped halfway through her talking, as he eventually realized she was not humoring us. His and Haedyr's faces were solemn as she went on.

"Before that was a string of different little escapades I was in, going all the way up to Brimmen. I was born into a noble's family, so I had to adapt to the conditions therein. The only thing those interactions with the upper echelons of society ever got me was stress and trouble."

She took another swig of wine.

"Now, I'm probably wanted for dead in at least 20 different nations."

The room was ominously silent as she finished the confession. Haedyr cleared his throat. Dedric looked around, scratching his neck idly.

"Well…" I raised my wooden cup, which was now filled with regular water. "A toast, to new beginnings."

Everyone raised their cups.

" **To New Beginnings."**

And thus, we took swigs of our cups, renewed in our energy. I was summarily pleased to see gratitude in Melina's eyes when I glanced over to her. It gave me warm, fuzzy feeling in my chest.

With that topic cleared, I mentally noted how we had started drinking at only around 12 by the morning, which was not a smart time to ingest wine, especially if we were to further excavate this abandoned hamlet. Notwithstanding, however, it was necessary to clear the atmosphere of hostilities between the three assembled before me. It was a good call, too.

Thus, I decided to lay back and keep an eye on them all, waiting until their 'celebration' finished. It was high time we received one, anyways.

* * *

 _Week 4, Day 3, Afternoon, Cloudy_

Finally, the celebrations had ended, and by that I mean that their collective inebriation wore off after a few hours, though not before there was extensive releasing of bladder waste on the bushel outside.

With all that done, I decided to reroute the group to the nearby dilapidated tavern, finding this church-like building to be a bit too ominous for my taste. Once we came upon it, I readily had an idea in mind for my next act. I waited until everyone had set down their respective supplies before I pounced upon the chance.

"Erm, if I could please have your undivided attention, gentlemen...and lady."

I had gotten that attention, their heads turning towards me with curiosity, except for Dedric, whom I was sure knew exactly what I planned on saying.

"We are all in, how you say… a 'precarious' situation. We have meagre supplies, no shelter, and nothing to claim to our name except the clothing on our backs. That aside, however-"

I casually paced my way closer to the group. It was a tactic my father had instilled to me, which was that a closer interaction with the audience would give off the impression of a more sympathetic and understanding individual, thus creating a deeper bond between the audience and speaker.

You would then find me rightfully confused when I noted the off-put expressions my very audience adopted when I did move towards them. Maybe I had walked too fast? Nonetheless, I continued, even with a few stumbles from this unspoken mishap.

"Erm, uh, anyways...I have a plan to use this...hamlet...as the first step to which I build the foundation for my legacy. An estate, if you will. Thus, I would like to offer each of you an alternative to your current conditions. Hear me out, and you may like what I have to say."

I then walked over to Dedric, who seemed to fixate on me with anticipation.

"Mister Dedric. If you decide to stay with me, I can promise you plenty of gold to be made, of which you can spend however you-"

"Sounds good."

His interruption threw me off, which irked me greatly, but I had suspected his answer from the start. It wasn't like he had anywhere else to go, from the looks of it.

"...Wonderful."

I then scuttled aside to Haedyr, who sat as proudly as a pretender knight could, his hand on the pommel of his sword. Had I not known of Haedyr's righteous nature, I would have taken the gesture to be a threat. I mentally noted to later teach Haedyr on the signals he was giving, being in a full plate of armor with weaponry.

"Haedyr. If you choose to stay and serve me, I will do everything within my power to help you...become...appointed an _actual_ knight."

As the words left my mouth, I witnessed Haedyr's eyes light up brightly. Melina glanced over at Haedyr with worry.

"Pardon, he wasn't an _actual_ knight before?" She asked in worry, which I gracefully skimmed over as I awaited Haedyr's response, which I knew before it even came out of his mouth.

"Absolutely!"

He unsheathed his sword, which scared the living hell out of me, but quickly settled my nerves as he plunged the tip down onto the wooden floorboards below, kneeling behind his planted sword, both hands on the pommel.

"By the grace of Tog, I grant you service to my blade and my shield, to act as your protector for as long as you may reign, Lord Avon!"

Though I assumed this speech was, for lack of a better phrase, ' _pulled out of his arse',_ I was nonetheless impressed and surprised by his sudden pledge.

"I will assume that is a resounding 'yes'. And, uh, I do indeed claim your blade, or...whatever. And lastly…"

I swiftly moved over to Melina, who stared at me warily. However, there was a kind light in her eyes when she looked at me, which gave me goosebumps and filled me with that same odd sensation I had felt in the church-like building only a few hours ago.

"Melina...If you decide you want to stay here and help me build my name upon this land…"

I stared into her eyes, that odd sensation starting to make my heart pound.

"...I can guarantee you safety, comfort, refuge from foreign enemies, and any other benefits that may come with the estate's growing presence. I will personally see to it that, if you wish, to live a fulfilling life within this place. I promise you this."

Every word that came out of my mouth, I sincerely meant it when I looked at Melina. She gave me such a strong capacity for conviction, it was almost unnerving.

I was surprised to feel a sprouting happiness converge in my chest and my mind as she nodded her head slowly, a smile pulling at her lips.

"Alright. I'll see what you have to offer, Avonnius."

I nodded my head.

"You no longer have to run."

The statement had run from my mouth without warning, which startled me. I had never before let words come before thought. Nonetheless, she seemed to deeply appreciate the words, as tears welled in her eyes, though she quickly swept them away with her hand.

"Thank you." She mumbled.

I nodded my head once again, this time a bit more awkwardly. I released a pent-up sigh, gazing outwards of the broken window of the tavern, towards the large, dilapidated keep that sat upon a hill further up the slope, separated from the rest of the ruins.

"I'll be back, my friends. I feel I need to...see to some matters around the place."

* * *

 _Week 4, Day 3, Evening, Clear_

After a few more hours of poking around town, planning certain buildings in certain locations within my mind, sketching out ideas on the parchment I had taken from the supplies, and attending to a few other scribely matters, I eventually started to make my way up to that ruined keep that sat at the top of this crescent hill. The closer I got, the more difficult it was to climb the slope. I made a mental note to later have a set of stairs installed up to the keep so I wouldn't have to deal with this.

Finally, I arrived at the front of the building. I studied the moss and vines that had embedded themselves in the grand architecture of the ruined edifice, the dark spots that wept from the stones, snaking downwards. It was indeed an old building, though how far back it dated I could not tell.

I ventured through the place with much caution, as I wasn't certain it would not come down on top of me as I explored. It was fairly large, though there were almost no separation of rooms within, which perplexed me.

I eventually got out of the ruins and found myself staring out over a beautiful horizon, the sea expanding outwards beyond what the eye could behold. I decided to sit myself down on a small patch of grass nestled comfortably against the back of the stone and mortar wall of the old building. As I did so, contemplating what I had in store for this place, I watched the sun begin to set, casting its deep orange over the landscape for mere moments. I looked up to become enamored with the sight of the ruins of which my back was against. The stones seemed to sparkle with a crimson tint, as if someone had thrown a tide of blood over the keep. It was an amazing sight, and I cherished it for every second it held.

Once it had passed, I only then noticed that there was already a reddish coloring to the building that stayed long past the sunset.

"Marvelous." I muttered. I felt truly blessed to see such a sight in that moment.

I turned back to see the twin moons rising above the sea, replacing the deep orange with the familiar milky-white light of the night as an hour more passed on, leaving me in deep thought.

"Oh?"

It seemed that my sightseeing was not done quite yet, as I had the chance to gaze upon another beautiful view. A Belile, the little black flower that was rare to find anywhere in the world, was poised near the edge of the cliffside. Bathing in the lambent white, its glowing, stygian leaves sparkled with an ethereal quality.

I remember distinctly hearing about how this beauty of a plant was considered a 'bad omen' by many within the continental landmasses of Uronereia. As I gazed upon the flower, I considered their superstition to be ridiculous in that moment.

"Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder, it seems. It astounds me that a vision like you could be given such a cruel label."

And just like that, an idea popped into my mind. I pulled out my parchment once again, quill in hand, dipping it into the glass ink holder that I carefully sat upon my thigh, before beginning to write.

* * *

 _O beauteous, black-marbled plant,_

 _Hath ye a passionate wanderlust_

 _To complement your otherworldly quality?_

 _And yet, your sabled, seraphic features_

 _Are undermined by ominous rumors,_

 _Morbid caricatures of evil and deceit,_

 _As they would be assigned to black cats and demonic trinkets._

 _I see not only a justice,_

 _But a philosophy fulfilled in giving you a place,_

 _In my new stead._

 _Thy name shall live on,_

 _As a flower of the darkest type,_

 _In what I will coin,_

 _As my rising legacy,_

 _For generations to come,_

 _ **The S**_ _ **tyg**_ _ **ian Estate.**_

* * *

I finished the poem with a glowing pride in my heart. Had I given to the strong capitulation to my ego at that moment, I am sure that I would have gone down a dark, vanity-filled path. Luckily, I reined in my self-gratification and stored away the parchment, ink and quill.

I got up from my spot, choosing to kneel next to the Belile, casting one more gaze out to the vast expanse of blue and white.

"Upon this patch, I shall build my kingdom."


	5. A Fortunate Encounter

**Chapter V: A Fortunate Encounter**

 _Week 3, Day 3, Night, Clear_

I had receded back down the hill, which took a few minutes, and narrowly managed to avoid tumbling down the damn slope. Once I did, I went back to visit my comrades in the tavern, where I was sure they were setting up.

 _Clang!_

I swung my body towards the source of steel on steel, unsheathing my dagger quickly. The sound was all too familiar.

 _Clang!_

The others came rushing out of the tavern, their weapons unsheathed as well as they met up with me.

"By Tog, what in Good Graces is that?!" Haedyr exclaimed, bringing his shield up in worry.

"Dunno, but it sounds like more fackin' trouble." Dedric remarked with frustration. "Can we get a bloody break around here?"

I witnessed a group of armed and armored individuals make their way up the trail, towards the village. All of them seemed to be forming a large circle around someone, whom I presumed to be a noble and his Lordsguard, men and women dedicated to serving as elite bodyguards to noble persons.

"Oh, bloody hell, what are those things?!" Dedric shouted in panic, pointing at what I could barely make out in the slivers of moonlight to be large, bulky, green-skinned creatures.

"Tog, they're War Orcs." I remarked grimly.

"No, worse." Melina commented. "Rulks."

My fear heightened upon mention of the brutish alpha species of the Orc race. Said to be the strongest form of Orc society, they are significantly worse than War Orcs, who already have a reputation that is so prominent that the very word 'War' has been put in their title.

And by the size of these brutes, it seemed she was correct. Over 7 feet tall, they towered above the retreating group that they seemed to be engaged in combat with. Axes and swords in hand, they were trading blows with the Lordsguard. Both sides were taking casualties, blood splattering over the ground as weapons flew about in a wild manner.

 _Togdamnit, I'll have to clean this up,_ I thought in frustration.

"We need to help them." Melina commented. Dedric peered at her as if she were mad.

"You must be jesting." He remarked. She turned deadset eyes towards him.

"It's not out of sympathy for them. If those Rulks defeat the nobleman's entourage…"

She didn't need to finish the sentence. Dedric and Haedyr nodded their heads, as did I.

And yet, as I turned my head back to the little skirmish happening, my anxiety quadrupled as I noticed the pile of human bodies compared to the Rulk corpses. There were four people left, including the nobleman, and more than 5 Rulks left.

"We need to help- _now!"_ I shouted, running over towards the battle, followed closely by my compatriots.

I witnessed yet another Lordsguard fall, struck by a hand axe of a Rulk. The screams of the woman being struck pierced my ears, and for a moment I watched on in shock as she cried in agony, trying to cover the massive amount of blood gushing out of the wound in her side.

"Avon, GET MOVING!"

Melina's shouting jerked me back to reality, but not before the nobleman then had his neck sliced. He gurgled as he tried to cover his bleeding throat, the blood spurting from the opening onto the grass below. The last two Lordsguard looked on in horror as the offending Rulk stepped forward, grabbing him by his hair and hacking the sword into his neck multiple times, decapitating him.

" _YOU BASTARD!"_

The scream was followed quickly by one of the Lordsguard, who charged forward and slashed their greatsword downwards through the Rulk's arm. The Rulk shouted in pain, dropping its sword and trying to cover its wound, until the Lordsguard thrusted his sword through its stomach, pushing it through with a rage-filled scream.

"Damn it, he's lost it." Melina muttered. "Stay out of his way."

"Pardon?" I inquired nervously. "What cause is there to-"

 _ **Schlick!**_

The sentence never finished, as the Lordsguard yanked the large sword out of the Rulk and immediately swung it around to the next attacking Rulk, lopping off the front part of its face. It fell to the ground, blood staining the grass below.

"Holy shit!" Dedric yelped, backing away from the fight. I looked to Melina, who continued watching with a grim expression.

"I've seen this once before. He's gone into a battle rage. All we can do is wait it out. Either he'll die or kill every last Rulk left."

"And how likely is that?"

"Depends on his fighting ability, but from what I can see-"

The Lordsguard had then shifted his focus to the next Rulk, swinging his sword diagonally downwards, slicing clean through the Rulk's left leg. It roared in agony as it fell to the ground, but was quickly slaughtered by the other Lordsguard, who had come forward with a sword and thrusted it into its skull.

"-That won't seem to be a problem here."

We watched on as the two Lordsguard made quick work of the rest of the Rulks.

Eventually, the raging Lordsguard had begun to slow down, his swings becoming more slack. The other Lordsguard was sobbing as she backed him up, seemingly grieving a loss of some sort.

Once they struck down one of the two Rulks left, the first Lordsguard had fallen to the ground in fatigue, the other falling to one knee. I was alarmed to see the last Rulk storming towards them both, raising its war axe.

"They're in trouble, we need to help!" Dedric shouted, running towards them.

"Wait- Damn it, Dedric!" I reached out towards him, but he had already made his way over. I was about to rush in when something flew past me, whistling through the wind, and piercing the Rulk in the eye. It roared in pain, stumbling backwards as it clawed at the object that had embedded itself in its face.

I looked back at Melina, who was missing the shank from her hands.

"Good throw." I commented. Though this was not the time for facetious thoughts, I had to admit that aroused me somewhat.

"Thanks." She responded simply.

I brought my eyes back to the action, only to see the female Lordsguard thrusting her sword up and into the Rulk's jaw, sending the blade all the way through its skull and out the other side, before falling over in exhaustion. The Rulk fell to its knees, before falling face-first onto the ground, the blade of the embedded sword sliding completely through the back of its head.

 _Such a gruesome and pathetic death,_ I thought to myself. _I hope I won't have to die face-down in the dirt._

We gathered over at the after-battle scene, where Dedric was leading the exacerbated female Lordsguard to a nearby resting place, and Haedyr tending to the other one.

As I came up to the area, I gagged at the sight of all the gore. Dismemberment, evisceration, decapitation…such morbid scenery.

"We need to bury them." I muttered. I could see Melina nodded her head as well.

I made my way over to the female Lordsguard, who was silently grieving as she lay in the dirt as a corpse would, her unconscious compatriot a few feet away in the same fashion.

Her gaze turned towards me, tears running down her cheeks. Despite our victory in battle, her glimmering eyes shone a grave defeat.

"Please, sir...strike me and my friend down here and now."

I leered back in shock upon hearing these words.

"Why would I commit such an atrocity?! And why are you so downtrodden and grief-stricken? We have won this battle! We get to live to see another day!"

In all fairness, my emotions were high, especially after such a pitched battle, and so I spoke irrationally. I felt myself pulled to the side by Melina, who gave me a look of defined outrage.

"Are you dense, Avon?" She inquired fiercely. Her insult invoked my faint sense of class superiority, and yet not so much so as I expected it to from anyone else.

"W-watch your tongue!" I muttered, confused with myself. Why was I so hesitant? I had no qualms in lecturing others such as Dedric for their crass behavior towards marked nobility such as myself, and yet here I could not muster the courage to stand against this woman.

Nonetheless, she heard my retort, and seemed none too happy about it.

"Who do you think you are? Have you no knowledge of the Lordsguard and their duties?"

Eventually, my humility kicked in, and I chose to bite my tongue and shake my head slightly.

"I recall reading about the Lordsguard when I was younger, but I do not know much beyond a general concept."

Melina sighed, and I was relieved to see her animosity retreat. She folded her arms over one another as she stared at me.

"I'm surprised this 'general concept' doesn't include their most important and sacred duty."

Melina came closer to me, her eyes watching the Lordsguard, whom were still lying in the grass.

"You will find this as a mantra amongst most, if not all Lordsguard you come across. Their entire career, if it wasn't obvious before, is to keep their noble safe, no matter what. You'll find that in the vast majority of situations, a Lordsguard will die before the noble is ever touched. Lordsguard revere their duty as if it were a personal mission handed down by Tog Himself." She explained. "In their eyes, if a noble were to die before their Lordsguard, that guard would be a horrid disgrace to everything they stand for, and their only way of redeeming some form of honor and integrity is to die in battle where their noble perished, as few nobles would want to take on Lordsguard that have failed in their duty and lived."

Melina pointed to the Lordsguard lying in the grass.

"They just failed their one and only mission, of which they've trained for their entire life, and they didn't even die fighting afterwards. Can you see now why they are in such deep despair? This may have been a victory to us, but to them it might as well have been the end of the world."

I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that the long-winded lecture Melina gave me had sucked out most of the sympathy I would have felt for the Lordsguard. Nonetheless, I nodded my head in understanding, and made my way back over to the crippled lass laying in the grass, an idea festering in my mind.

"What is your name, Lordsguard?"

Her eyes opened slightly, peeking up towards me.

"Ka...Karina...Derst…"

"Ms. Derst, your duty cannot yet be shirked." I then offered my hand once more. "We have food and drink back at the derelict tavern. Do not waste all those years of training and combat ability to wither away here because of one crushing failure."

She seemed unresponsive for a few seconds, before finally, weakly lifting one gauntlet up and placing it in my hand. As I attempted to lift her from the ground, I realized how outrageously heavy she was, with all the armor and such.

"Dedric, Haedyr, come help me lift her up."

They came over and did such, taking her off my hands and leading her towards the tavern. I then went to check on the other Lordsguard, who was most definitely unconscious, if not dead.

"Come now, sir. Where one path has closed, another has opened."

* * *

A few minutes having passed, we had all gathered within the old tavern, where Melina had shown some sudden skills in cooking, using some of the supplies we had to prepare a stew in an old pot she found. Of course, she made plenty sure to clean as well as she could before putting anything of substance into it.

As more minutes passed, with the stew boiling, I took my time questioning the downtrodden we had invited into our humble abode. I learned quickly the name of the male guard, Henrik Castermeyer, who said he had been paired up alongside Karina. This, I was perplexed by.

"But surely," I started. "If the two Lordsguard were to, say, catch affections for one another, it would affect the duty they are beholden to their prestigious patrons."

Oddly enough, they shook their heads, as if the thought was blasphemous.

"Of course not." Henrik muttered with a dead expression. "Something as meagre as love would definitely not get in the way of our most sacred duty."

"Indeed." Karina followed, slightly more lively than her compatriot. "Lordsguard are put through years of training, since birth-"

"Yeah, I know the- I get the gist of it." I interrupted. If I had to hear another excruciating tale on how thoroughly the Lordsguard were trained, I would lose any bit of sympathy I had left.

"Brew's done." Melina stated, coming back from the pot with steaming bowls of a mixed assortment.

Another round of minutes passed as we silently enjoyed the delectable meal. Melina did much to boost the spirits of the group, charismatic and, albeit, a bit eccentric. Nonetheless, I couldn't help but feel myself more drawn to her with every minute she spoke.

"Henrik, Karina." I spoke, garnering their attention. They set their bowls aside, as did I.

"I'll keep it brief." I stated. "I came from nobility at another estate, in the country of Drakmenis and the Province of Gyrena. My father was the inherent lord of the Sevens Estate. I was being groomed to take over, but only a few weeks ago...Demons with red eyes came, sweeping over the estate and bringing wreckage to everything. I had to flee, and now… I'm here. Attempting to claim this dilapidated place as my own."

I took a deep breath.

"It may tedious, and slow, and there very well may be tragedy along the way, but I plan on rebuilding my broken legacy, no matter the cost. Thus…"

I gestured at them.

"I humbly ask to take you both on as my personal Lordsguard, if you'll see to it."

Their eyes widened, first in confusion, then in shock.

"W..What?!" Henrik stuttered. "Why would you take us as your Lordsguard? We...we failed our last one despicably…"

"I don't understand…" Karina muttered, tears surfacing in her eyes. "...Why are you giving us this opportunity?"

I merely shrugged. "Usually, I-"

The sentence stopped short at my lips. I realized I was about say something very rude.

"...I... _noticed_...that you both fought to your very best efforts to defend him. If anything, you were clearly too outmatched, even with your capabilities. Even I didn't expect you to survive."

I gestured with an open hand towards them.

"And yet, here you are. Clearly, you were meant to serve your purpose for longer than that. So...do it."

I'll admit, I was not the best at improvised speeches, but it seemed to do the trick nonetheless. In moments, something similar to what Haedyr did, they got up from their seats, pulled out their swords (which, I must confess, scared the bats out of me) and placed the points on the ground, kneeling before me.

"My Lord, we shall not fail our duties a second time, you have our undying word!" Henrik declared.

"We will protect you from all harm, or die doing so!" Karina also declared.

I'd be remiss if I didn't admit that, in that moment, I felt powerful. On top of the three I had recruited to my cause, I now had two _official_ guardsmen that just dedicated their lives to serving me. Albeit, it was more...dramatic than I had expected, but I didn't particularly mind. I really did wonder, however, just how easily things were going in my direction. I didn't think myself to have any particularly special 'charm', but I decided to ruminate over the matter another time.

"That aside, My Lord…" Henrik said, bringing his head up to speak. "If your goal is to rebuild anew from this derelict place, I know of a nearby fortress manned by someone who would be glad to aid in this."

"Oh?"

He got up, followed by Karina. I was starting to see the teacher-student relationship here.

"West of here-" He pointed his finger westwards, beyond the forest. "-You'll find the frozen region, Frezen-"

"What a redundant name." I muttered to myself.

"-And there, Fortress Hershey, where we had spent most of our time training in swordsmanship. If I am correct, the most recent commander was the Captain of the Knights Guard there, Sir Gareth Ruthran. Young, like us, but very ambitious and eager to help, especially with the orders he has."

I nodded slowly. This was all coming together now.

"Very well. Let us rest, then, for tonight. We shall strike out at dawn to reach the fortress."


End file.
